


Whedonverse Mix and Match

by yourlibrarian



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 08:39:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6697744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If the Buffyverse characters were mapped onto the Firefly characters, who would be whose doppleganger?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whedonverse Mix and Match

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted August 26, 2005.

In order of how they came to mind:

 **River/Fred, Simon/Wes** \- This seems so clear to me it's remarkable I didn't think of it after just a few episodes. But then, AtS S5 hadn't happened yet. Crazy River is not unlike crazy Fred, brilliant and resourceful, bearing up under horrible conditions. Of course in River's case it's understandable why she's rather childlike given that she is young, but Fred has to be in at least her mid 20s by the time we see her, given her level of education. Of course maybe she's a prodigy herself. Wes certainly thought so in "Supersymmetry."

Speaking of Wes, the rather brainy and talented man hopelessly devoted to River, er, Fred. We know Wes would kill for her, die for her, and I am quite sure, give up his own ambitions to rescue her if it came to that. In fact Wes was pretty willing to go against his family for his own reasons, at least after a while. But then, Simon seems to have had a better relationship with his family than Wes did. Certainly early Wes is like a more cartoonish version of Simon, although both also have the ability to go pretty Bondish when push comes to shove. As for superpowers, Fred does become Illyria.

(As a P.S., rather an odd coincidence that dancer Summer Glau first appears in the same ep in which Amy Acker gets to dance. Wonder if that isn't what started the whole train of Jossian thought.)

 **Willow/Kaylee** and **Xander/Wash** \- It seems to me the Xander/Wash mapping is an easy comparison for everybody. And Kaylee seems like Willow 3.0 (after Fred 2.0). Generally kind, eager to please, and gifted (though techy rather than intellectual). The difference is that Xander and Willow are both far more insecure and uptight than Kaylee and Wash. In fact, of everyone on the ship it seems both are the most comfortable in their own skin. Perhaps it's because they know they are liked and Willow and Xander have always been less sure of the same. I also suddenly realized that Kaylee and Wash have very little to do with one another. I can't offhand think of a single significant exchange or scene the two shared. (Granted with only 13 episodes and a film there hasn't been nearly as much opportunity, but still). However instead of Xander  & Willow's personal bond, Kaylee and Wash would seem to share a pretty significant _professional_ bond as the engineer and pilot of _Serenity_. And River and Kaylee do have a girlish bond, at least at first, before Kaylee becomes a little uncomfortable with that.

 **Zoe/Angel** \- As soon as my mind turned to Zoe, Angel was right there. We don't really know what brought Zoe to the war, and to her way of life. Certainly there doesn't seem to be any anguished broodiness. But she's also tall, dark, beautiful and stoically silent. Like Angel, Zoe doesn't have a lot to say, she lets her actions speak for her more clearly. She's certainly devoted to Mal, though only in a professional capacity. Really I don't know what makes Zoe tick and I could never get in Angel's head either. As I recall she didn't much care for Wash when she met him...

 **Buffy/Mal** \- In some ways this seems obvious, the protagonists of the show. I didn't really think they seemed much alike though, until I started thinking about S7 Buffy. And I wondered what if Buffy had _lost_ in an apocalypse? What if the demons had taken over and she and her side were in permanent retreat? She too might narrow the fight to keeping her band of people alive and moving forward. And while she wouldn't be likely to lose her sense of humor entirely (she didn't in S6 after all), chances are it would become dryer and grimmer. With her sense of right and wrong, she'd probably become a lot darker in a world like that. But she would still be a leader, still be ready to take chances, do what was needed, and be resourceful in a crisis. And for her, the mission remains the most important thing.

 **Tara/Inara** \- I could see this one pretty quickly. Both Inara and Tara share a certain *cough* serenity. While Inara is certainly more confident than Tara, I think if Tara had been in Inara's place she might well have turned out the same. We could certainly see her becoming that way by S6 (and think of her in Buffy's dream in "Restless"). Both were strong women, able to make hard choices and fairly poised in the face of dire circumstances. Both also had a certain awkward sense of humor. They also had a sweet relationship with an admiring Kaylee/Willow.

 **Anya/Jayne** \- I had a harder time with Jayne until I thought of his hat and his bond with his favorite weapon. While Anya certainly came off as an uninterested, unfeeling outsider at first, her attempts to fit in and her increasing vulnerability with Xander gave me a very different picture of her by the end. But she never lost her sharp edge, or her willingness to express the unpopular opinion (I think of her during the S7 "boot Buffy" showdown). Thinking of her during S3, she was very ready to leave before the Ascencion, money is a major if not prime motivation, and she'd be perfectly willing to sacrifice everyone else in a lot of instances. And Anya would SO be in her bunk if she saw Xander/Spike going off together. If someday we discover Jayne has a fear of guinea pigs, I will consider this a slam dunk.

 **Giles/Book** \- In some ways this seems, like Mal/Buffy, a bit too obvious -- the older, wiser mentor to the hero. And we know very little about Book's past, but then most of what we know about Giles' past comes from one episode and a number of hints. Certainly Book is hinted to have an unsavory past that he may be atoning for now. And that made me look at Giles' arc in a slightly different light. We knew he was ashamed of and had turned away from whatever other youthful errors he made (besides Eyghon). But I started wondering if Giles' willingness to return to the family tradition of being a Watcher wasn't in fact a form of atonement? Which would certainly explain his generally stuffy, uptight portrayal in the beginning seasons. He is overcompensating to avoid any similarity to his earlier, truer, self. As time passes, his portrayal becomes fairly rich, I think, for a character who didn't get a lot of individual episodes focused on him. And I think of Book's line about kneecaps when I think of Giles killing Ben. Despite their efforts to turn away from their past, I think both men share a certain grim understanding of the realities of life that make them take decisive (and irrevocable) action. I do wonder now if Giles's willingness to make the hard choices for others wasn't in some ways _his_ gift in "The Gift."


End file.
